Edelman's Quest For Accountability

Signs up for iTVX product placement tool

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As another indication of marketers' search for validation of their branded-entertainment endeavors, Edelman Sports & Entertainment Marketing has signed an annual agreement to use the Web-based product-placement-valuation tool by iTVX. Terms were not disclosed.

"More and more, our clients and the industry in general are looking for metrics, a deeper and richer way to be able to evaluate entertainment-marketing programs," said Peter Land, general manager of Edelman Sports & Entertainment Marketing, the New York-based specialized unit of the public relations mainstay. "Whether they're sponsorships or public relations programs or anything else."

And with product integration on TV increasingly becoming a focal point for Edelman's clients, which include such blue chippers as Microsoft, Unilever, Kraft and Johnson & Johnson, Land said he was drawn to iTVX CEO Frank Zazza's methodology. %%PULLQUOTE_RIGHT%%

The iTVX metric is based on a scale of product-exposure levels that assigns ascending value based on the relative impact of the product placement. For example, a clear product logo in the background of a shot or a scene will get less credit than a hands-on interaction of a product by an actor.

"In the next year or so, as we gather our database, starting with TV, we'll slowly move into motion pictures and sports marketing," revealed Zazza.

Edelman, which has no intention of going into the product-placement business itself, collaborates frequently with Norm Marshall & Associates, which, like Edelman, is an independent company. "What gives us an edge is that because we're not owned by an ad agency, we can effectively position entertainment marketing with a more holistic approach, as something not necessarily so driven by a :30 spot," said Land.